After setting up a Pimoroni pHAT BEAT to stream internet radio via VLC audio, I discovered that VLC apparently hasn't updated their web player since 1996. It is a mish-mash of tiny icons and features that don't apply on a headless Raspberry Pi.

The code in this repository removes unused features, improves the user experience. It also adds support for showing the actual song being played.

• Connect to your Raspberry Pi via SSH.

• Installation of the the software prerequisites can be completed with the following install commands.

  wget -q https://raw.githubusercontent.com/eat-sleep-code/vlc-slim-web/master/install-prerequisites.sh -O ~/install-prerequisites.sh sudo chmod +x ~/install-prerequisites.sh && ~/install-prerequisites.sh 

• After the prequisites are installed – or after an upgrade of VLC – you may install the new UI with the following commands.

  wget -q https://raw.githubusercontent.com/eat-sleep-code/vlc-slim-web/master/install-ui.sh -O ~/install-ui.sh sudo chmod +x ~/install-ui.sh && ~/install-ui.sh 

• After the Raspberry Pi reboots the second time, access http://[YOURIP]:8080

  • If prompted for authentication, leave the username field blank. The default password is raspberry

For the best user experience, update your playlist to use the extended M3U format. You can edit your playlist with sudo nano /home/pi/.config/vlc/playlist.m3u You will need to reboot your Raspberry Pi after making changes to the playlist.

The following is an example of the extended M3U file format:

#EXTM3U #EXTINF:-1, Country Roads http://rfcmedia.streamguys1.com/countryroads.mp3?aw_0_1st.playerid=RadioTime #EXTINF:-1, Smooth Jazz http://rfcmedia.streamguys1.com/smoothjazz.mp3?aw_0_1st.playerid=RadioTime #EXTINF:-1, Today's Hits http://rfcmedia.streamguys1.com/MusicPulse.mp3?aw_0_1st.playerid=RadioTime